195 



MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 



No. I.— The Burmese House-Crow (Gorvus splendens insolens) at 



Petchaburi. 



A recent note by Mr. W. J. F. Williamson in this Journal 

 (antea, p. 105), mentioned the reported occurrence of the Burmese 

 House-Crow in Ratburi and Petchaburi. This was the testimony of 



various Siamese, who knew the bird as I-kae (^ iin j from its call, 



which differs from the call of the Jungle-Crow (Corvus coronoides 

 andamanensis). Its size is also somewhat less and the neck 

 slightly grayish, but the call is by far the chief distinction. Those 

 who knew it concurred that it was rare and shy. 



After several attempts I have just succeeded in getting a 

 specimen at Wat Phra Taht, Petchaburi, but it cost a number of 

 cartridges, and in the end my collector gave up after obtaining this 

 one, saying the birds were all too shy and he could not find others, 

 though I had askei for three, to get both sexes. The last he shot 

 fell in the Wat (Temple) grounds, and undoubtedly was picked up, 

 though odl denied it. For it seems that the bird is esteemed as me- 

 dicine (probably on account of the difficulty of procuring it), and it is 

 not unlikely that some of the very priests who denied seeing it, had 

 told one of their boys to gather it up, too rare and good a chance to 

 lose. It is kept till high, then pickled in spirits, or else split whole 

 and roasted over the fire, and thus makes Ya-mu f<y-| mj J, a medi- 

 cine which is valuable (?) for Sang (tw), a term which may include 

 almost any unidentified wasting child's disease. 



The measurements of the bird (a female, not nesting, possibly 

 a just-adult nestling of this year, as there are a few pin feathers on 

 the neck, and one of the wing primaries on either side is also un- 

 developed) are as follows: — Total length 14.5 inches, tail 5.5, bill 

 1.5, spread of wings 24, tarsus 1.5 — as against those of the Jungle- 

 Crow (Corvus c. andamanensis) : — Total length 20 inches, tail 7, 

 bill 2.5, spread 29 and tarsus 2.5. The color is black, except the 

 slightly gray neck. 



The place of nesting I have not ascertained, though the bird 

 is said to occur in Petchaburi in varying numbers throughout the year. 



Lucius C. Bulkley, m.d. 

 Petchaburi, 25th August, 1921. 



[Dr. Bulkley's measurements indicate a small bird, not full 

 grown. If the breeding season in Siam is the same as in Burma 

 (middle of March to beginning of rains — vide Faun. Brit. India, Birds, 

 i, p. 22), an example shot in August might very well be sub-adult. 



VOL. IV, NO. 3, 1921. 



